Author

Pham Ngoc Hai

Date

2011-03-03

Description

This recording and transcript form part of a collection of oral history interviews conducted by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation and donated to the Chao Center for Asian Studies at Rice University. This collection includes video recordings of interviews with Vietnamese Americans native to or living in Texas. This interview forms part of the national 500 Oral Histories Project conducted by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation.

Abstract

Phạm Ngọc Hải was born on October 12, 1925 at Hai Duong, Vietnam, a small peaceful, farming village. His father was a city official of Hai Duong. When Hai was 7, his father transferred to Nam Dinh, a large city unlike Hai Duong, and the family followed. Tragically, in 1948, Hai's passed away in a war accident. Hai was the favorite child because after a series of miscarriages, he became the first child. At Nam Dinh, Hai's mother successfully gave birth to 5 younger siblings, and Hai got his Tu Tai 1 before going to Ha Nam. Hai says that he looks up to his mother and views her as a very courageous woman; after the series of miscarriages and the death of Hai's father, she was very depressed. However, she was able to carry on with her life and care for her children. In 1950, Hai's family moved to Hanoi. Here, Hai was imprisoned for 2 months for attempting to smuggle persons into the city. When Vietnam was divided in 1954, Hai's family was in Hanoi. He did not have the opportunity to continue his education because the family was so poor. Instead, he worked to provide for his family. In 1953, he enlisted in the military, and a year later, his family fled into the South. Before entering the military, Hai married; he and his wife also fled into the South by plane in 1954, the same year his son was born. Hai's wife was a nurse at Hai Phong; after giving birth, she transferred to Hue for one year, then to Saigon where she lived until 1975. Hai and his wife together had 5 children--2 songs and 3 daughters. Hai's oldest son later drowned in an attempt to vuot bien. Hai reached the title of Lieutenant Colonel in the army. From 1963 to 1975, Hai was also involved in the "Tieng Noi Tu Do" radio station in Saigon. In his opinion, he preferred the "De Nhat Cong Hoa," the reign of Presdient Ngo Dinh Diem. He says that the atmosphere and culture during that time was easy-going, peaceful, and Diem was generous and genuinely cared about the people. In 1975, Hai was imprisoned in a Viet Cong "trai cai tao" prison camp for 10 years, and was not released until 1985. During this time, Hai was transferred to many different prison camps throughout the South and North. He recalls life in prison as difficult; it was emotionally, mentally, and physically draining. There was never enough food and the forced labor was grueling. In 1990, the U.S. created a program that allowed those who were in priosn for more than 3 years to flee Vietnam. Hai was included in this group, and fled the country through H.O. 4 by plane to San Francisco, California. In 1995, Hai moved to Houston, Texas to be closer to his son who has an engineering job there and his sister who lives in Houston. Hai has remained there since. As a devout Catholic, Hai today is involved in regligious affairs, as well as in other organizations and issues in the community. He serve as the head of the Senior Council in Southeast Houston.